Are you somebody who has struggled with faith and feel that because you have been questioning God for so long that you have missed your chance at salvation? Do you feel as if God has turned His back on you because of your stubbornness and unwillingness to turn to Him? Do you feel as if you have sinned so badly that God will not accept you?

I have Good News for you, today we are going to look at a passage from the Bible which teaches us that it is never too late to turn your life over to Christ and to ask for forgiveness.

We turn to Luke 23:18-43:

Jesus has been unfairly and illegally tried and found guilty in a kangaroo court, he has been sentenced to death and the sentence has been carried out.¹ As he hangs near death on the cross he is being ridiculed by many of those around him, including the two thieves² who were crucified with him. But then something unexpected happens, one of the thieves starts to defend Jesus and then he turns to Jesus and asks Jesus to remember him when he enters the kingdom.³ Jesus replies “truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”⁴

We don’t know the exact crimes these thieves were crucified for, while Luke calls them “criminals” Matthew and Mark call them “robbers.”⁵ It is possible these men were revolutionaries with Barabbas and were originally going to die with the man whom Jesus replaced on the cross. But while all of this is just speculation, they were more than likely much more than just the thieves they have gone down in history as.

It should be remembered at this point that this dying man admitted he and his partner deserved the death penalty, but at some point he recognized the truth about Jesus and he repented. Jesus promised the man he would be in paradise that evening. Jesus forgave him, and promised him paradise, knowing that the man would never have the chance to act on his confession of faith, knowing there would be no good works to come. Knowing he would never have a chance to turn his life around and walk in the way of God, or to make restitution to those he had wronged.

It was that simple confession of faith, through the grace and mercy of God, that saved him. And it is that simple act of faith that will save any one of us.

It is never too late to repent of your ways, turn to Christ, and accept him as your Lord and Savior. Salvation is a gift from God and it is free to anyone who is willing to accept it. God has promised that he will not only forgive your sins, but he will remember them no more.⁶

This is what the story of the thief on the cross teaches us.

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1. Luke 23:18-33 ↩︎
2. Matthew 27:44 ↩︎
3. Luke 23:35-42 ↩︎
4. Luke 23:43 ↩︎
5. ESV ↩︎
6. Romans 8:12 ↩︎